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Grape Muffins are a fantastic way to incorporate grapes into a baked recipe! These muffins are moist, fluffy & have huge bakery style tops. Use black seedless grapes to add a pop of sweetness and flavor. This is one of the best grape recipes!
Grape Recipes
I'm sure you can relate to this, but raise your hand if you ever wondered if you could actually use grapes in a recipe? My whole life, I always bought grapes with one intention - eating them straight off the vine. It seemed like that was their only purpose!
This recipe is a result of my curiosity. Could grapes be more than just a snack? Could you use them as you would normally use fruit in other recipes?
Well, the answer is YES! Of course!! In fact, while I was researching recipes I found that grape desserts are a thing. Actually, Grape Pie is apparently a HUGE thing!
I have never heard of it before, but it's just like any other fruit pie, but it's made with deliciously intense & sweet concord grapes. If you give it a quick Google search, you'll see that it looks just like a blueberry pie. I'm hoping to test out some recipes for Grape Pie soon!
I figured if you can use grapes in a pie, why not use them in a muffin? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that concord grapes were pretty similar to blueberries (it's true, the botanical definition of a berry includes grapes!)
With my new idea, I decided to start testing out grapes. Adding grapes to a muffin seemed like a great place to start.
Which grapes work best for baking?
This question led me to purchasing 3 alternate varieties (Candy Snaps, Sable Black Seedless grapes and another smaller, black grape).
Buying 10lbs of different grapes at Costco seemed like a good idea at the time, but I quickly realized it was actually A LOT of grapes.
It left me in a grape stupor for the next week having to eat all of them myself.
I read that concord grapes are most often used for grape desserts (primarily, in that Grape Pie I was talking about). They have a bold, rich flavor and are have a beautiful deep, purpley-blue color. You can easily remove the skins as well.
The problem with concord grapes is, they have seeds. You would need to remove the seeds before using them in your recipe. I learned that for Grape Pie, you have to remove the skins and seeds before cooking down the filling.
The second problem is, I couldn't find any concord grapes anywhere.
An Easy Grape Recipe | Baking with Grapes
I was looking for an easier method, one where you can just toss the fruit in the batter and go.
The Sable Black Seedless grapes that I had bought were the perfect solution. They looked kinda similar to concord grapes and would be much easier to add to this recipe. The skin is not that thick, they are seedless and have beautiful color. I preferred the flavor to the other smaller, black grapes I bought.
All I had to do was slice them into smaller pieces and add them right into the muffin batter!
This muffin recipe (derived from my Mixed Berry Muffins recipe) is my favorite and a huge hit with followers on Pinterest. I get rave reviews all the time.
They are fluffy, moist and I like to make them with huge muffin tops. As always, I add a sprinkle of sparkling sugar for true, bakery style muffins. They are also adaptable - I've seen a lot of folks comment that they swapped the milk for almond milk and added spices and other flavors. with great success.
Grape muffins are so delicious. The little pop of grape has fantastic flavor - like a little nod to grape jam or jelly. The fruit softens as it bakes in the muffin the color deepens to a dark purple. This is a great recipe idea idea for a wine themed party or to make and pack ahead for a weekend visiting vineyards.
Grapes are totally awesome for baking and I can't wait to try them out in more recipes!
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Grape Muffins
Grape Muffins are a fantastic way to incorporate grapes into a baked recipe! These muffins are moist, fluffy & have huge bakery style tops. Use black seedless grapes to add a pop of sweetness and flavor. This is one of the best grape recipes!
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- ½ c butter (melted & cooled, unsalted or salted can be used- if using salted, you may want to reduce the added salt to ¼ tsp)
- 1 c granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 c buttermilk or milk
- 2 ½ c all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ c sliced or quartered, black seedless grapes (I like the Sable Black Seedless variety; for larger grapes I recommend quartering them)
- sparkling sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Put paper liners in a cupcake tin.
- In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar and vanilla using a spoon or spatula.
- Add the eggs and mix until well combined. Pour in the milk and stir until completely incorporated. The mixture will be very liquidy at this point.
- In smaller bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt)
- Slowly add half of the flour and fold it into the mixture. Stir. Once mostly combined, add the remaining flour. Continue folding the mixture until the flour has just absorbed. Do not mix any further! The batter should be thick and lumps are OK.
- Lastly, add the sliced grapes and gently fold them into the batter.
- Using a cookie scoop (or normal tablespoon), put 6 tablespoons of batter into each cup (I used a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, so that’s two scoops).
- Add sparkling sugar to the tops of each muffin (optional)
- Bake for 5 minutes. Then, reduce the temp to 375°F for another 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven when finished baking and let rest for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan to finish cooling on a rack. These muffins are freezer friendly for up to 3 months!
Notes
Recipe by Owlbbaking.com
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Muffins
- Cuisine: American
Jenn Hamblen
My partner brought home some “bitter” green grapes and asked if maybe I could do something with them so I found your recipe and tried it. At first I was in love with the silkiness of the batter but that was nothing compared to the end result! The texture of these muffins is amazing and there’s no way anyone could tell the grapes had ever been “bitter”. Really outstanding recipe! Thank you so much.
Liz
Thank you for the kind words!!! I love that the muffins worked to help hide the bitterness! 🙂
Nat
Can I use frozen grapes? Will they work in this recipe?
Liz
I haven't tried it but it should be fine!
Marie
Delicious! My husband loves them. I used red grapes and 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind for extra zing and just light on the sugar. Yum.
Liz
I'm so glad you loved the recipe!!
Jamie
Thank you for sharing this recipe! We are growing St Theresa Grapes and they are blueberry size -- perfect for muffins, pies, etc. I am excited to experiment next year!
Liz
oOO! Those grapes sound like they'll be perfect for this recipe! So glad you loved the recipe, Jamie! 🙂
Nancy
I made these with Concord grapes grown on my grape vines and they were delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe! The instructions were so clear and easy to follow.
Liz
Thanks so much for the kind words, Nancy!! I'm glad you loved the recipe. Homegrown grapes sound AMAZING! 🙂
Brittany
has anyone done this using green grapes?
Joan
We had small green grapes off a backyard vine. I left them whole, since they were small. The muffins were great!
Gloria
These are delicious. Thank you.
I added 1 1/2 tablespoons of orange juice and I left the grapes whole. They are a family favourite!
Liz
Love those changes, Gloria!! Thanks so much for the kind words, I'm glad you love the recipe!! 🙂
Margie
Delicious! I halved the sugar as I made them for my toddler, and we love them!
Liz
I'm so glad you like the recipe, Margie! 🙂
Ngan Dinh
These muffins were tasty. I used margarine, almond milk and a little cinnamon, then added chopped pecans. I reduced the oven temperature to 350 F because it smelled a little burned. I kept a close eye and they were a success! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Liz
Wooo! Thanks for sharing Ngan! I'm so glad you liked the recipe! 🙂